Ice Shouldn't Burn
by rent-serenity
Summary: When Draco is forced to make a choice between what he wants and what is right, a spiral of events unfold that puts both worlds in jeopardy. Can mortal enemies set aside their differences to help stop Voldemort's army? DMxGW. HGxBZ.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 01**

The sharp tick-tock of the Dursley's new Grandfather clock echoed through his mind. It was the forth night in a row Harry Potter couldn't fall asleep. Ever since he had come back from the Burrow after the first week of summer, sleep failed him.

It was partly due to his inability to let his mind rest, and partly due to the fact that every noise was unsettling to him. He had just until his 17th birthday till he could safely escape this hell the Dursley's called a home for good. But every moment not spent looking for the Horcruxes was another moment longer that Voldemort gained support. Another moment where their chances of defeating him grew slimmer.

His only hope was that while he was here, the Order grew stronger. But he knew nothing of what was going on exactly with the Order, because letters could be interrupted, and so no Order business ever went through the air. The only letters he received were from Ron and Hermione, who kept him updated on their day-to-day lives.

Hermione had not gone home after term, a move that even Ron and Harry were surprised about. She instead turned up at the Weasley's front door the day after they had parted from Kings Cross Station. She told them it was because she didn't know how to say goodbye to her family. Because she didn't know how they could let her go, or how she would want to go if they begged her to stay. "It is less pain on everyone this way," she had told them.

So Ron and Hermione were with the Order, being productive, while Harry was on Private Drive doing nothing. Not that it wasn't vital for Harry to be here, because it was. According to Dumbledore's last wishes, it was one of the most important things.

The rest of the Weasley's were also helping Harry out. Fred and George were sending cash to help fund the Order's efforts. Charlie and Bill both were on field work, but Harry had bigger plans for them once he was able to contact them safely.

Ginny was helping by just staying out of his way. If he didn't see her, didn't hear from her, then he didn't think of her…as often. She still was deeply imbedded in his thoughts, and it was all he could do at times to not lose his mind completely over her.

Harry emptied his mind of thoughts again. Trying to think of nothing. But everything kept rushing back.

His scar ached, but he ignored it, it was all it ever did any more. He lay flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling, his green eyes tightly closed.

The clock chimed and he heard the rough muffled footsteps of his Uncle making his way down the stairs. Harry frowned; since when had his uncle ever woken at four in the morning before? Or better yet, when had he woken at four and tried to be so quiet about it?

Harry swung his feet over the side of his bed, his too-big pajamas nearly coming down with him. He quickly tied up the drawstrings as he quietly got up. Leaning close to his door, he slowly turned the handle and pushed it open. To his surprise, there to greet him was the purple face of his uncle, bat in hand and squinting eyes. The look of pure rage that only his uncle could muster.

The last thing Harry remembered was a sharp pain to the top of his skull, and everything turning black.

---

Hermione sighed and slammed her book shut, a puff of dust billowing out. "I told you, Ron! We're in a war. I don't have time to figure out if I have feelings for anyone, let alone you."

Ron's face turned a deep shade of red, both from embarrassment and anger. "I guess that's easy for you to say. Just ignoring everyone's feelings including your own!"

"Oh please." Hermione sighed, stood up, and left the room without another word.

About a week ago, Ron had confessed that he thought he was in love with her. The boy that she had been in love with for quite a long time was in love with her, that should have meant that they could both be together, be happy. But they couldn't, not according to Hermione they couldn't.

For one, Hermione knew it was a time of war, and like Harry, she knew that anyone you got emotionally entangled with in that kind of relationship at this point in time, it could only lead to disaster and pain. It was unlikely for them to survive the war, or at least, both of them to. She didn't want to get hurt in that way, or for him to ever lose her. It would be hard enough with the relationship that they already had.

For another, that ship had sailed a long while back. She loved Ron, but she was not in love with him anymore, as that silly saying went. But she knew Ron was in love with her, and she didn't believe she could want him the same way he wanted her and that mattered in a relationship. She had found that after the jealousy of seeing him with Lavender had passed, she could never see herself with him. They just didn't click, as her father would say.

Hermione sighed again, and sat down on her bed inside the Burrow. She locked her door with a wave of her wand, and then collapsed on her back, thinking back to how he had told her.

_They were in the process of finishing their first letters of the summer to Harry. She had been at the Burrow nearly two weeks, but it felt like a much longer time. She was weary and exhausted mentally, caused by her grief of leaving her parents without a goodbye._

_She was near tears again, though she demanded herself not to. The Weasley's were all out except for Ginny, who was locked away in her room. She hadn't been out much since they had come home._

_"Hermione," Ron said, pulling her back into reality._

_"Hmm?"_

_"Are you alright?"_

_She nodded quickly, brushing away a tear that had leaked out. "I'm fine. Is your letter done?"_

_"You're not fine, you're crying, what's wrong?"_

_"What do you think is wrong, Ron?" she huffed, and immediately she was sorry, she knew he was only trying to help._

_"I mean…I know what's wrong, but…"_

_"But what?" she said, annoyance in her tone._

_There was a moment of silence. She could feel Ron's eyes on her, she took hers off of her letter to look at him, and her stomach dropped. She knew immediately what he was going to say before he even said it._

_"Hermione, I think I love you."_

_She stared at him for a moment, tilted her head to the side._

_She had not been prepared for this. Not at all._

_Ron sat, staring at her, waiting for a response._

_"I think that you don't know what you're talking about, and we better get these letters to Pig before he knocks himself out again from excitement."_

_"No - but, wait. Hermione-"_

_"Ron, really, this isn't the time, nor does it really matter. Maybe when this war is over it might. But right now, we have enough on our plates. Give me your letter."_

He had tried to protest after that, but she just silenced him by ignoring him, that was until today when she had snapped again.

A soft knock came at her door.

"Hermione?" it was Charlie's voice.

"Come in," she said, and quickly unlocked her door with her wand.

He opened the door and stepped inside, followed closely by Bill, his face vaguely scarred from the attack.

"We think we managed to nab one of the spies, he's being held at head quarters for questioning," Bill told her.

"Oh," Hermione said. "Do you want me to go down there?"

"Yes, we're going to head over to headquarters too," Charlie said gently. "Grab Ron and Ginny if you'd like and head over with us in about five."

Since the Weasley's had all been busy, the questioning of suspects or known Death Eaters had been Hermione's and Ron's job since Harry had left at the beginning of the summer. She was pleased to do it, and both Charlie and Bill were always satisfied with her findings when she gave them her synopsis.

"Okay," she said. "But, can I do this one alone? If you think I'm ready I mean. I've done pretty well so far, and Ron and Ginny don't do much other than give the suspect's death glares."

"That's fine, Hermione," Bill said with a nod. "Just be careful. And I'm going to let Ron know where you went. He'll be up there in a half hour to check on you, though I'm sure nobody will be able to get past Mad-eye and Remus, along with a half dozen other guards and magic spells, but we can never be too safe."

"Okay," Hermione said.

"We'll see you at Headquarters then," Bill said, starting for the door.

"Good luck with this one. He doesn't seem to want to talk much," Charlie warned.

"I'll get him to talk," Hermione said pretending to be unconcerned. "Don't worry about it."

Charlie gave her a soft smile and the two filed out the door. Hermione breathed in heavily and sat for a moment.

It scared her every time she stepped into an interrogating room. But it had to be done, and she couldn't do it with Ron around, not this time. And Ginny wasn't of any help. She had to do this one on her own.

---

Everything was silent. Harry slowly slid into consciousness, his head throbbing with pain and his breathing unsteady. He was tied onto an antique chair with magical ropes that gripped him around his ankles and wrists.

He blinked to adjust to the light. To his surprise, he found he had his glasses on, and slowly he came to see his surroundings. He was in a dungeon. Jars of pickled animals were hanging from the ceiling. There was a single light hanging from above him, and on either side of him he could barely make out antique chairs with someone chained and a single light hanging above them.

He opened his mouth to speak but found he could not. He began to struggle against the ropes. It was a futile struggle, and he finally gave up. Sitting in darkness and quiet. It was unnerving, the air almost below freezing, and no ventilation. It seemed almost haunted.

"Good evening," said a soft sad voice, scaring Harry.

Harry gave a silent yell and swiveled his head in search for the source.

The voice got stronger. "Tell me, Potter, who would you save?"

Harry heard struggling coming from the chair to his left, the voice however came from in front of him.

"The love of your life, your worst enemy, or your worst enemies love?" A tiny, almost ironic laugh escaped the unknown person.

Harry frowned, the voice was chillingly familiar…but it couldn't be.

"See, to most the answer would be obvious."

The voice drew nearer.

"You would save your love and you would leave your enemy to die. It's a win-win situation. And everyone get what they deserve." A black outline of a figure came into focus.

"But not when your enemy is the only one who can save us all."

A pale, blonde boy turned on the light above Harry, Draco Malfoy, starring at him with the saddest and cruelest gray eyes he had ever seen.

"Tell me Potter, who would you save?"

---

**A/N**:

Please R&R, tell me what you think of it so far. Thanks.


	2. Uncooperative

Harry wanted to shout, wanted to break free of the chains and pound Malfoy into oblivion. Anger rushed through him and he couldn't think straight as he struggled against the bonds.

"That'll do you no good," Malfoy said casually, turning to glance at the struggling figure to his right, he closed his eyes and breathed in before speaking again. "I'm going to remove the silencing charm in a moment, but I need you to calm the fuck down."

Harry glared, unable to subside his anger, but he stopped struggling, his mind filling with thousands of questions. How had Malfoy gotten past the protection the Dursley's house offered him? Why was Malfoy asking all these questions? And what was he going to do with him?

"You can't do anything but whisper when I take the charm off, and I know that's going to be hard for you and all," Malfoy sneered. "But if I am caught, all four of us are dead."

_Four?_Harry thought, _Who__ else is here? _

"Can you handle that, Potter?"

He waited for a moment before slowly nodding his head. He needed to know what the Slytherin was on about.

"Also, there will be no unnecessary talking. I need to get out of here within the next ten minutes. So I'm asking the questions, no exceptions, if you waste my time, I might just change my mind on all of this. Do you think you can shut your mouth long enough for me to get this handled, Potter?"

Harry nodded again, hating Malfoy more and more each moment.

The blonde muttered something under his breath, looking to his left longingly. He turned back to Harry, as if wishing nothing more than to be away from there.

"Since I don't want any of your stupid remarks, I'm not going to take the charm off yet." His voice lowered, his eyes dropped to the ground, and in barely a whisper he began to speak, "I'm going to help you get rid of...of Voldemort," he said, as if forcing himself to use the name.

"But what I need to know, is the best way I can do that. My job was to get you and your precious Weasley here tonight. They don't know that I plan on helping one of you escape. And before you question who's the third person here, it's Pansy. And I must be out of my bleeding mind for not saving her and taking off, but, you are the only way all of us are going to be safe again.

"They took her to make sure I would follow through, so they're not going to suspect me for releasing one of you. The thing is, I'm not sure which of you I should release. Because if I get you out of here, you're going to come straight back for Weaslette. And if I release her, she's going to come back for you.

"Before you ask, I can't let both of you go, because right now they don't know that I have captured you yet. If I don't have one of you here, then I'm not going to be trustworthy in their eyes any longer and they'll kill me. And I need to help stop You-Know-Who. Do you understand all of that, Potter?"

Harry nodded, still not trusting a word he said.

Malfoy quietly slid his wand out from inside his robes and turned it onto Harry, he whispered the counter spell under his breath. Immediately Harry felt his throat loosen, but he didn't shout as much as he felt like doing so.

"I don't know if it's possible, but I need you to think rationally. Best case scenario, do I release you or your girl friend?"

Harry tried to stop the million questions in his head. Tried to focus on the question Malfoy had just asked. If the blonde hadn't been acting so strangely not himself, he may have ignored him completely. But he felt the urgency in the boy's voice. Knew that if they didn't act, that if Malfoy _was _telling the truth, that everything could fall apart very quickly if he was caught helping them.

"Save Ginny," he said on impulse.

Malfoy looked at him severely, as if he was forcing himself not to punch Harry.

"I'm not just saying that because of how I feel, but if you still need to be trusted by the Death Eaters, then having me captured and not her would be a safer bet."

"But you know what we're after? You know how to stop him?" they were practically not questions, almost statements, as if he needed Harry to know the answers.

"I do," he said. "But so do Hermione and Ron, and they'll trust Ginny if she tells them what's going on."

Malfoy looked at him disbelievingly.

"What are they going to do with us here?" Harry asked.

"Torture her for your benefit. They want to use you in some sort of potion that will eventually kill you and sap you of your strength that will power Him. They still believe that you have more power than they can ever dream of," he said as if he didn't believe a word of it.

"Get her out. I'm not going to cooperate if you try to save me. I'll just stick around to get her out."

"You're bloody fucking mental! You're the world's only hope and you're going to sacrifice yourself for a girl?"

"Get. Her. Out," he said in the harshest whisper he could muster. He knew that he had to be out there looking for Horcruxes, knew that it was his job alone, and yet, he couldn't leave Ginny here to suffer for him. There was just no way.

The blonde moved away from him and strolled over to the chair to his right. He heard him mutter spells under his breath and then a louder growl of, "Come on."

Malfoy walked back into the light, a silver chain in his hand connecting to a figure following him.

Ginny Weasley finally came from the shadows, she looked terrified, but no tears seemed to have escaped her eyes; her wrists were bound in the silver rope and seemed to tighten as she looked towards Harry.

"We'll get you out of here, Potter, when we can, and before you die. Obey only the orders of Bellatrix Lestrange. Also the orders of Severus Snape only when threatened with the cruciartus curse. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Harry said, his eyes not moving from Ginny. He spoke to her, "Gin, go to Ron and Hermione, tell them that you need to help them find the Horcruxes without me until you can find a way to get me out of here, alright? They'll explain the rest to you."

"When we leave, Potter, it's going to be up to you on how Ginny escaped. Make it a good one."

She held his gaze for a moment before nodding. Then Malfoy said, "Enough, we have to go." He put another silencing spell onto Harry, turned off the light, and they slipped into darkness. Harry listened until he could no longer hear footsteps. Until he could only hear struggling coming from his left.

He sympathized with Parkinson, but at least, she probably wouldn't be tortured. Not unless they figured out Malfoy was a traitor.

---

Hermione stood outside the room where the potential spy was being held, she took in a deep breath, and prepared herself for the worse. She slowly slid the door open and stepped in.

A boy with dark skin and black hair had his ankles chained to the legs of an iron seat bolted to the ground, his arms chained to the wall. He had a black eye and some serious bruising on his arm. Hermione frowned; normally the Order healed the spies before they were interrogated. His head was drooped towards the ground, looking almost unconscious.

She looked him over closely, pulling out a quill and paper and summoning up a chair and table next to the spy. He didn't move, didn't acknowledge Hermione at all. She pursed her lips and then with a sudden intake a breath, she recognized him.

"Zabini?"

Blaise Zabini looked up, his facial features lax and almost sick looking.

"Granger?" he said in a hoarse whisper.

She nodded. "Why didn't you get healed?"

He gave a partial shrug, watching her closely.

"Never thought I'd see you again, Mudblood," he said casually.

Hermione wanted to smack him, but instead she dipped her quill into her ink. "I'm going to ask you some questions. The more you tell me, the faster you will be able to get out of here."

Zabini scoffed and then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, Granger, you're just going to let me walk out of here after I've already betrayed you lot once. And what makes you think I want to go back out into the Wizarding world after betraying all of the Death Eaters under the Veritaserum here??"

She stared at him, none of the other Death Eaters had thought about most of that in the beginning.

"Well, we can put you under protection," Hermione explained. "If you're willing to cooperate.

He raised his eyes in a non committal way and said nothing.

"I need you to drink this," she said, pulling out a small vial of Veritaserum potion.

"Get on with it then," his tone was dull and he watched her uncork the bottle. He leaned his head back as she slowly put a few drops into his mouth. He swallowed and then smiled casually. "Ask away, Granger."

---

Ginny's heart was pounding in her chest as she and Malfoy fled the dungeons of the Malfoy Manor. They were going through doorways and hallways that she had no idea where they led to. Her body followed after the blonde without her consent, her throat silenced by a charm and her head dizzy from the running.

"Here," the boy whispered, throwing her inside a room. "Stay here, don't make a sound. I'll be back in ten minutes." He looped the white string around the door handle inside and muttered a spell upon it then left immediately, but slowing down tremendously.

Looking around, she saw that she had to be in Draco Malfoy's room. Everything was tidy, obviously cleaned by house elves, books lined the walls, and paintings and murals of wizard's she didn't recognize were placed around.

She panted, trying to catch her breath, but her heart still beat furiously.

_What is going on?_

What she did remember was seeing Malfoy with his wand on her at her house, then waking up in the dungeon. Pansy was there, not silenced, and Pansy had talked to her (Ginny was pretty sure she had no idea who she was talking to, as Ginny couldn't speak). Pansy told her that Malfoy had lost his mind and that they were in the Malfoy Manor. That was till Malfoy showed up again, then he silenced Pansy and started to talk to…Harry.

Her thoughts wandered to him. Was he going to be alright? She couldn't believe he had made Malfoy free her and not himself, the hope of the Wizarding world. Her heart panged in loss, in grief. She wanted nothing more than to be in his arms right at this moment.

Shaking her head, she shook those thoughts from her mind; she had been trying to be rid of them for a while now. She thought about trying to break free of the white chain to save him, but then thought to the conversation Malfoy and Harry had had just a moment ago. It was vital that _if _Malfoy was telling the truth that she followed through.

But why had Malfoy released her? It made no sense. He could have just released neither of them and left with the information of the Horcruxes. Maybe he thought the only way he could get Hermione and Ron to believe him was if Ginny assured them that it was so.

She glanced at a watch on her wrist; it had to have been a little over five minutes since he had left. She sat, waiting for him to return, not sure what she was supposed to be thinking about. Her mind just kept turning to Harry, and how they were surely going to kill him. That she needed to save him.

Checking the time again, it had been well over ten minutes...where was Malfoy?

She heard footsteps approaching and she stepped away from the door, and as she did so, the chain on her hand loosened its grip and fell untied at her wrist to the ground. She stared at it in astonishment. The door began to open and she quickly picked it up and tied it loosely around the band of her watch.

Malfoy was revealed in the doorway, he looked out of breath. "Come on," he said, taking the other end of the string off the door and started to lead her away. "Under here." He pulled out an invisibility cloak that much resembled Harry's...

She slid under it, revolted at how close Malfoy was to her as he slipped under as well. They walked slowly, cautiously passed paintings, who she swore a few of them stared right at them.

"Here." Malfoy pushed a painting up, behind it was a small round door, he opened it and they stepped through and found themselves in a garden. Beautiful flowers, and large trees bearing fruit, the air smelt strongly of apples and scents she couldn't begin to describe. "And so the exit should be…" He searched the garden a few times before pointing to his left. "There."

Carefully he slid out of the cloak and pushed back two wooden planks of a white fence. She stepped through first, followed closely by Malfoy. "Just keep going towards the woods. We won't be safe until we reach cover. Don't stop when I stop, got that?"

Ginny nodded but knew he couldn't see her. She trudged along and felt a tug of the white string. She heard Malfoy say in a loud voice to someone, "They're in the dungeon. I'm going to go get the last."

"Very good, Draco," a cruel voice responded back, but she couldn't identify who it was and she kept moving forward, just as Malfoy had told her to. "How soon will you be back?"

"As soon as I can, Father." He kept walking towards the forest, his footsteps now gaining speed to catch up with her.

Ginny held her breath as she made her way towards the forest, as if Lucius could hear her breathing. Finally, they reached the cover of the trees and she stopped after they were a good few feet in.

"Take off the cloak," Malfoy drawled, pulling his wand out.

She did so, and turned to him with malice in her eyes. Just because he was on their side, didn't mean she had to like him.

"It's going to be a long walk, Weaselette, so eat." He handed her an apple and a bag of some sort of gram crackers. "Let's get going."

Ginny refused to move. She wasn't going to go the whole trip not being able to talk. Though she knew that talking would probably end up in fighting in their case; but still, not being able to talk gave Draco even more power, power she wasn't going to hand over to him easily.

"Move," he sneered. "Or do I have to make you move?"

She folded her arms across her chest and pointed to her mouth, raising an eye, as if daring him to refuse her wish.

He smirked. "I can leave you to die in here, you know?"

She smirked back at him, as if she knew something he didn't.

He faltered but then growled, "Move it!"

She shook her head and tugged back on the rope when he pulled it.

"I will drag you there if I have to."

She shrugged in a non committal way.

His face was almost red in anger, he tapped his wand in his hand for a few moments, pondering his options. Then a look came across his face, one that sent shivers down her spine in fear.

"You know, there's a lot of things I can do to you, Weasley. A lot of things," his voice was low but she heard every word. "When I feel that you've earned me taking off that spell, then I might be inclined to do so, but until then, I'd like to get out of here."

Her mind raced for a moment, wondering what to do, but the look on his face cracked her strong interior. She gave him one last disgusted look, before turning around and starting to walk deeper into the woods.

She heard him chuckle in a demeaning way behind her and then sneer, "Good girl."

---

The ticking of the clock is what made Hermione realize that they had been sitting in silence. Interrogating Zabini had turned out to be much more of a chore than she had ever dreamed. Not only did he give her answers in fast rambling speed, but he feed them to her along with a heavy dose of sarcasm and insults, that and she believed a lot of it he spoke in Gobbledygook.

Unfortunately she hadn't been able to keep up with most of what he had told her. She had managed to figure out that he was indeed spy, something about Harry and a spell, and also something about Voldemort's new regime.

Now she was stumped, trying to sort through what she should ask him to make his statements clear. It wasn't like she could give him more truth potion, as they had to use it extremely sparingly. Bill and her were in the process of making more, but that wasn't going to be done for a few months and they needed as much as they could for the other Death Eaters that they had managed to round up, who probably had a lot more information than a kid like Blaise had.

Blaise was grinning. Something she had never seen most of the Slytherin's do, they sneered, and they smirked, but they did not grin.

"What?"

"I got you in a rut Granger." He grinned some more. "I kinda like it. Miss Know-It-All, can't keep up with a measly Slytherin? Too much information for your overlarge brain?"

"Well, if you would just speak in _English_." She glared at him. She thought it absurd even in her own head that she thought he should only speak English to her.

_Why should he? He obviously doesn't want to tell me whatever he knows._

It just made things easier if he'd just spill, but this was going to take a lot of work.

"Don't feel like it." He shrugged. "Plus, it's more fun this way."

She gave him a disgusted look. "This is a game to you?"

"Why not? Nothing else matters anymore, what have I got to lose? I might as well have fun torturing the Order while they determine what they should do with me. What are you going to do with me, anyway?"

Purposefully she ignored him, still flustered by his arrogant ignorance. "People are dying out there! Even your family and friends are getting hurt. Don't you want to put a stop to that?"

Blaise's face fell, a darkness swept over it which startled Hermione.

"No. I don't want to put a stop to it."


End file.
